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Jews: Behold Your God
Chapter 13
Who Was Jesus Christ?
A remarkable prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 states: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means "God with us." The Son born of a virgin who would be God and be with men could only mean one thing: the human virgin would conceive miraculously through God and not man. That is why He would be God. This was a prophecy and had to be fulfilled.
No Israelite has ever been recorded to have claimed that he was born of a virgin, not conceived through man, except for Jesus. No other Jews who claimed to be the Messiahs ever dared to claim that they were born of a virgin. They would be laughed to scorn and their mothers and fathers would nail their lie and dissuade them from making such a claim. Why then should it be hard for us to believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be: the Son of God because He was miraculously conceived by God through His holy spirit, born of a virgin, who fulfilled this prophecy. He is the only one in Israel's history who claimed to have fulfilled this prophecy. No other Israelite has dared to make this claim. Why then should it be difficult for some to not believe the only Man who claimed to have fulfilled this prophecy?Let’s understand from the scriptures who Jesus claimed to be and what His disciples and others thought of Him.
Is Jesus God?
In Luke 18:19: “19 …Jesus said unto him, Why call you me good? None is good, save one, that is, God.”
Jesus in this statement told a ruler that no man is good. Only God is good. In this statement Jesus also implied that He was a man, which was a statement of fact that He was a man. In many scriptures He called Himself the “Son of Man.” Examples include Matthew 11:19: “The Son of man came eating and drinking…”; Matthew 12:8: “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day”, and above 80 other times in the New Testament.
When we put these two facts together, that Jesus was a man, and that He told the ruler that man cannot be good and that only God is good, we may conclude that Jesus was a mere man and not God.
But Jesus’ other statements and the writings of the apostles leave no doubt that Jesus was also God. Jesus thus claimed to be both God and man. The fact is that Jesus was both God and man.
When Jesus came to earth, He gave up all His power, but not His divine nature and came as a physical man. So He was a mere man when He came to earth as Jesus Christ, but retained His divine nature. He retained His divine nature because God the Father gave Him the holy spirit without measure as stated by John in John 3:34 (NKJV): “For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him.” God’s holy spirit is what imparts God’s divine nature to any being.
Jesus boldest claim that He is God is recorded in John 8:58: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I Am.” Jesus here was revealing His identity as the actual One whom the Jews knew as God of the Old Testament. He was saying that He existed before Abraham and that He was the same Being as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who told Moses in Exodus 3:13-14 that His name was “I AM WHO I AM.” That’s why the Jews tried to stone Him for blasphemy.
In Isaiah 42:8 Go said, "I am the Lord [YHWH], that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images."
If the God of the Old Testament would not give His glory to another, and Jesus was claiming to be the I AM, it means they are one and the same Being.
Dr. Norman Geisler, in his book Christian Apologetics, concludes: "In view of the fact that the Jehovah of the Jewish Old Testament would not give his name, honor, or glory to another, it is little wonder that the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth drew stones and cries of 'blasphemy' from first-century Jews. The very things that the Jehovah of the Old Testament claimed for himself Jesus of Nazareth also claimed" (2002, p. 331).
Dr. Geisler goes on to list some of the ways Jesus equated Himself with YHWH of the Old Testament. Let's notice some of these.
Jesus said of Himself, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). David, in the first verse of the famous 23rd Psalm, declared that "The Lord [YHWH] is my shepherd."
Jesus claimed to be judge of all men and nations (John 5:22, 27). Yet Joel 3:12 says the Lord [YHWH] "will sit to judge all ...nations."
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Isaiah 60:19 says, "The Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory." Also, David says in Psalm 27:1, "The Lord (YHWH) is my light."
Jesus asked in prayer that the Father would share His eternal glory with Him: "O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:5 - NKJV). Yet Isaiah 42:8 (NKJV) says, "I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another."
Jesus spoke of Himself as the coming bridegroom (Matthew 25:1), which is how YHWH is characterized in Isaiah 62:5 and Hosea 2:16.
In Revelation 1:17 Jesus says He is the first and the last, which is identical to what YHWH says of Himself in Isaiah 44:6: "I am the First and I am the Last."
There is no question, therefore, that Jesus understood and claimed Himself to be the Lord (YHWH) of the Old Testament.
Miracles Testimony to Jesus’ Divinity
Jesus said, "The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me" (John 10:25 - NKJV). The works He did were miracles that only God could do. His miracles are the most powerful testimony that He was God. No other man or founder of any other religion has done the kind of miracles that Jesus performed. But the Islamic writers say that Jesus Christ did these miracles by the power of God and also quote Jesus in John 5:30 where He states: “I can of mine own self do nothing…” So He could not be God. But they ignore the fact that Jesus Himself cited miracles as evidence that He was the Messiah or Savior of the world that was prophesied to come. They also ignore verse 28 of John 10: 28 And I give unto them [that is His disciples] eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Only God can give eternal life, proving that Jesus Christ was divine.
Then Jesus made another statement that incensed the Jews: "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30). That is, the Father and Jesus are both divine. Again, there was no mistaking the intent of what He said, because "then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him" (verse 31).
Jesus countered, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" The Jews responded, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God" (verses 32-33).
The Jews understood perfectly well what Jesus meant. He was telling them plainly that He was divine or a God being.
The Gospel of John records yet another instance in which Jesus infuriated the Jews with His claims of divinity. It happened just after Jesus had healed a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. The Jews sought to kill Him because He did this on the Sabbath, a day on which the law of God had stated no work was to be done (which they misinterpreted to include what Jesus was doing).
Jesus then made a statement that the Jews could take in only one way: "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." And what was their response to His words? "Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath [according to their interpretation of it], but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:16-18). Yes, Jesus claimed Himself to be a divine Being, meaning God.
Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins
Jesus claimed to be divine or God of the Old Testament in various other ways.
When Jesus healed one paralyzed man, He also said to him, "Son, your sins are forgiven you" (Mark 2:5 - NKJV). The scribes who heard this reasoned He was blaspheming, because, as they rightly understood and asked, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (verses 6-7).
Responding to the scribes, Jesus said: "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?...But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—He said to the paralytic—"I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home" (verses 8-11, NRSV).
The scribes knew Jesus was claiming an authority to forgive sins that belonged to God only. Again, the Lord (YHWH) is the One pictured in the Old Testament who forgives sin (Jeremiah 31:34).
Christ claimed power to raise the dead
Jesus claimed yet another power that God alone possessed—to raise and judge the dead. Notice His statements in John 5:25-29 (NKJV):
"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live...All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."
There was no doubt about what He meant. He added in verse 21,"For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will." When Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, He said to Lazarus' sister, Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).
Compare this to 1 Samuel 2:6 (NKJV), which tells us that "the Lord [YHWH] kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up." So Jesus made it quite clear that just like God the Father He can resurrect human beings to eternal life. Thus He made many statements claiming that He was God.
Opinion of the Apostles
Now look at the opinion of the disciples about Jesus’ nature! They understood Jesus to be the Creator, hence God!!!
Hebrews 1:1-3 states (NIV): “1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
Thus the book of Hebrews tells us that the Son or Jesus Christ is the Being through whom God created the worlds and who "sustains all things by his powerful word" (verse 3, NRSV). Only God could be the Creator of the universe and all things in it and also possess the power to continue to sustain it.
John confirms in John 1:1-3, 14 (NKJV) that Jesus was the divine Word through whom God created the universe. He writes: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
The Greek word Logos is translated as Word here. Logos means "the expression of thought" (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "Word"). This means that the Word was the spokesman of the family of the two God Beings. John is stating that a God Being he calls the Word was with the other God Being before anything came into existence. The Word then created everything. He then came in the flesh as Jesus Christ and dwelt among us.
Paul states plainly in Ephesians 3:9 (NKJV) that "God ...created all things through Jesus Christ." He writes of Jesus in Colossians 1:16 (NKJV): "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
The Old Testament presents God alone as Creator of the universe (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 40:25-26, 28). When Christ’s disciples said that Jesus is the One through whom all things were created, they were clearly saying that Jesus is God.
Jesus claimed to be all that God is, and the disciples believed and taught it. They understood that Jesus was "the express [exact] image of His [God's] person" (Hebrews 1:3) and "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), and that "in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9, NRSV).
They understood precisely who He was and still is from His own words and actions. There was no question in their minds. They had seen Him prove it again and again with miracles. They would be martyred for their conviction.
Those who personally knew and were taught by Jesus, and who then wrote most of the New Testament, are thoroughly consistent with Jesus' statements about Himself. His disciples were monotheistic Jews. For them to agree that Jesus was God, and then to give their lives for this belief, tells us that they had come to see for themselves that the claims Jesus made about Himself were so convincing as to leave no doubt in their minds. Matthew the apostle opens his gospel with the story of the virgin birth of Jesus quoting from Isaiah 7:14, "'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:23). Matthew is making it clear that he understands that this child is God—"God with us."
John is likewise explicit in the prologue to his Gospel. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14).
Some of them called Him God directly. When Thomas saw Jesus’ wounds, he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Paul refers to Jesus in Titus 1:3 and 2:10 as "God our Savior."
The book of Hebrews is most emphatic that Jesus is God. Hebrews 1:8, applying Psalm 45:6 to Jesus Christ, states: "But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.'" Other parts of this book explain that Jesus is higher than the angels (1:4-8, 13), superior to Moses (3:1-6), and greater than the high priests (4:14-5:10). He is greater than all these because He is God.
Jesus Christ: 'The Rock' of the Old Testament
Paul the apostle leaves absolutely no doubt that Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament who led Israel out of Egypt in the Exodus. He writes in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (NKJV), “1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
David called the God of the Old Testament His Rock in Psalm 18:2, “2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust…”Moses also called the God of the Old Testament ‘Rock’ in Deuteronomy 32:4, “4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Thus Paul understood Jesus Christ to be the God of the Old Testament.
Jesus accepted honor and worship
Jesus demonstrated His divinity when He said in John 5:23 (NKJV): "All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father." Over and over again Jesus told His disciples to believe in Him as they would believe in God. He said in John 14:1: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me."
In fact, Jesus allowed people to worship Him on many occasions without forbidding such acts, further proving that He was God, hence worthy of worship. A leper worshipped Him (Matthew 8:2). A ruler worshipped Him with his plea to raise his daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18). When Jesus had stilled the storm, those in the boat worshipped Him as the Son of God. Matthew 14:33 (NKJV) states: “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him saying, of a truth you are the Son of God.”
A Canaanite woman worshipped Him (Matthew 15:25). When Jesus met the women who came to His tomb after His resurrection, they worshipped Him, as did His apostles (Matthew 28:9, 17). The demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes, "when He saw Jesus from afar...ran and worshiped Him" (Mark 5:6). The blind man whom Jesus healed in John 9 worshipped Him (verse 38).
The First and the Second of the Ten Commandments forbid worship of anyone or anything other than God (Exodus 20:2-5). Barnabas and Paul were very disturbed when the people of Lystra tried to worship them after their healing of a crippled man (Acts 14:13-15). In Revelation 22:8-9, when John the apostle fell down to worship the angel, the angel refused to accept worship, saying, "You must not do that!...Worship God!" (Revelation 22:8-9, NRSV). Yet Jesus accepted worship and did not rebuke those who chose to kneel before Him and worship. This proves that He was also God in addition to being man.
Jesus really left us no middle ground!!!
The renowned Christian writer C.S. Lewis observes: "You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (Mere Christianity, 1996, p. 56).
Was Jesus Originally Created?
We learn from John 1:1-3 that the Word existed with God the Father before the creation of anything. Does that mean that the Word has always existed or did God the Father originally create Him?
To answer this question, let us first consider who was Melchizedek?
Melchizedek is first introduced to us in Genesis. After Abraham rescued his nephew Lot, Melchizedek met him: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God” (Genesis 14:18).
Then David in Psalm 110 sheds further light on the identity of Melchizedek. In the first verse David talks about both God the Father and the Word: “The Lord said unto my [David’s] Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” It is Christ who now sits at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
Now notice verse 4: “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” Here the same Lord is speaking of David’s Lord that He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. This certainly identifies Melchizedek as the Word. The book of Hebrews provides further strong evidence of the identity of Melchizedek.
Consider Melchizedek’s attributes described by Paul: “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God…Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God, abides a priest continually” (Hebrews 7:1, 3).
The title “King of Righteousness” cannot apply to any human being for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Only a divine Being can properly bear this title.
Melchizedek’s next awesome title is “King of Peace.” That too cannot apply to human beings, because fallible human beings do not know the way to peace (Romans 3:10, 17).
Then verse 3 describes Melchizedek as being “without father, without mother, without descent [or genealogy], having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abides a priest continually.” This means Melchizedek’s priesthood never ceased. The only high priest who could fit this description was the Word. He had no physical human parents. “Having neither beginning of days” seems to imply that He has always existed.
And the phrase “made like the Son of God” means that He was not yet the Son of God, that is, until He was begotten by God the Father.
Melchizedek could not have been the Father because he was the "priest of the Most High God." He could have been only the eternal, preexistent Word who later became Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
These attributes of Melchizedek seem to imply that the Word always existed along with God the Father. But to understand if the Word always existed, or was at some point created by the Father, we need to analyze other Scriptures.
One of the basic principles for understanding the Bible is that we must consider all scriptures on a subject together. Only then can we come to a complete and accurate understanding of the subject. To understand if Jesus always existed along with the Father, or was at some point created by the Father, we must study all scriptures on the subject.
It is clear from the gospel of John that God created all things through Jesus Christ. Paul confirms exactly what John wrote in Colossians 1:16: "For by Him all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him."
Thus, the 24 elders mentioned in Revelation 4, 5 and 14, all the angels, all things in heaven, and the entire material universe were created by the Word, who later became Jesus Christ. But before the creation, Jesus Christ was with God the Father, and was Himself God. Both God the Father and the Word planned and thought through the whole creation before actually creating it.
Micah 5:2 states: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting."
The New International Version (NIV) renders this verse: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
New American Standard Bible renders this verse: "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel, His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."
This verse states that the Messianic King to come was 'from everlasting.'
The Hebrew word translated 'everlasting' is owlam or olam, which is number 5769 in the Hebrew and Chaldee dictionary of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. It can mean concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally of time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequently as an adverb always, ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, for everlasting, evermore, of old, lasting, long (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the world) plus without end. Therefore the words 'whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting' can mean from so old that we human beings cannot imagine it, or from way before the world began, or from ancient time, or practically eternity. However, 'practically eternity' does not necessarily mean absolute eternity, i.e. without beginning. But let us examine more scriptures to see if the Word has always existed along with the Father.
Colossians 1:15 (KJV) states: "Who [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” NKJV renders this verse: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
If Jesus Christ before His human birth was the image of God the Father, it implies that God the Father had to have existed before Him and the Word then became His image. Someone or something has to exist first before another can become his or its image. If Jesus Christ is the firstborn of every creature, then it implies that He was created before every creature. Firstborn here does not seem to imply firstborn from the dead. By implying 'firstborn from the dead', we are reading something into the text which is not there. So it does not matter if the translation is 'firstborn of every creature' or 'firstborn over all creation', it still means that Jesus was the firstborn.
Revelation 3:14 states: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God."
NKJV also translates it the same way. So does the New American Standard, American Standard, Revised Standard, New Revised Standard and the New Century Version. But New International Version renders it: "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation."
The Greek word translated 'beginning' in this verse is arche, pronounced ar-khay, number 746 in the Greek dictionary of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. It means a commencement, or chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank); beginning, corner, first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule. While this word may mean chief or ruler, nowhere is this word translated chief or ruler in the entire King James Version. Forty times it is translated as 'beginning' and once as 'beginnings'. It is translated as magistrates in Luke12:11, principality in 2 places and principalities in 6 places. But the context of the verse shows that the correct translation is 'beginning', and 'ruler' is the wrong translation.
Before beginning His messages to each of the seven churches, Jesus Christ is revealing something more about Himself that was not previously known before the book of Revelation was given, or to confirm His identity as the God of the Old Testament. Jesus had already revealed Himself as 'the ruler over the kings of the earth' in Revelation 1:5, and the gospels and the epistles had made it abundantly clear in many places that Jesus is the Creator of all of God's creation and ruler over it. Jesus therefore could not have meant 'ruler of God's creation' in Revelation 3:14. Jesus meant to reveal something new about Himself, that He was 'the beginning of God's creation,' meaning that He was the first Being that God the Father created. This confirms that Jesus was created, or as Colossians 1:15 says "the firstborn of every creature."
Here is what Jesus revealed about Himself before beginning His message to each of the seven churches:
Revelation 2:1:"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things says he that holds the seven stars [angels of the seven churches - Rev 1:20] in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks [the seven churches - Rev 1:20].”
Revelation 2:8: "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things says the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive:"
Revelation 2:12: "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things says he which has the sharp sword with two edges:"
Revelation 2:18: "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things says the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass:"
Revelation 3:1: "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things says He that has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know your works…"
Revelation 3:7: "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he that is holy, he that is true, He that has the Key of David, he that opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens:"
Revelation 3:14: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodicians write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God."
These messages reveal something new about Jesus Christ, or confirm that He was 'the First and the Last' mentioned in Isaiah 41:4, 44:6 and 48:12 as in the message to the church in Smyrna. Therefore, the translation of Revelation 3:14 as 'ruler of God's creation' is totally out of place in the messages to the churches. It does not fit the pattern of what Jesus Christ was revealing about Himself, or describing about Himself.
Other sayings of Jesus also lend support to His statement that He was 'the beginning of God's creation', or that God the Father started His creation first with Him.
Jesus Christ Himself said in John 14:28, "…my Father is greater than I." And in John 10:29, "My Father...is greater than all." Paul also stated in 1 Corinthians 11:3, "...the head of Christ is God." Jesus is clearly subject to the Father, and God the Father is the undisputed Head of the family.
Jesus stated in John 5:26 (KJV): "For as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself." Jesus is stating here that God the Father granted to Jesus to have life inherent Himself. This means that if God the Father had not given to Jesus life inherent in Himself, then He would not have been the Self-existent One. God the Father granted that to Him after practically a past eternity of living together when total trust had been developed between them. This then implies that God the Father gave life to Jesus Christ in the first place, long before the world began, or before anything else was created. This means that the Word had not always existed along with the Father, and that God the Father created Him.
Jesus also said in John 8:28: "...but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things." This is a clear statement that the Father taught Jesus Christ before anything was created by the Word. Earlier in verse 26 Jesus had said, "...I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him." Clearly there was a stage at which the Word did not know everything, needed to be taught and still learns from the Father. This can only mean that the Word has not always existed with the Father, and that He was created by the Father.
God the Father seems to have carried out the creation in stages. He first created the Word. There was no heaven at that time. The days and nights began with the material creation. So the Word had no 'beginning of days.' He existed before days began. God the Father then taught the Word everything, including His law of love. This could have gone on for a very very long time, and the only words that come close to describing that length of time is past eternity. God the Father had thought through His entire plan of creation well before He created the Word. Then He let the Word plan all the creation in discussion with Himself. The Word learnt from God the Father through this planning process. He had to learn how to create. God the Father taught the Word everything. And He also gave the honor of creating everything to the Word.
The only reasonable conclusion we can reach then is that Jesus Christ was created by God the Father as the Word or Spokesman for the God family. He was the beginning of creation by God the Father.
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